In Gov. Phil Scott's second year working with the Democratically-controlled Vermont Legislature, he relied heavily on his most dramatic negotiating tool: the veto.

Last year, the governor and legislative leaders were new to their roles and cautiously attempted to find common ground. The maiden voyage ended in cuts to school spending that satisfied no one.

This year, with the exception of historic cooperation on gun regulation, Scott and Democrats hunkered down in their separate policy positions, with Democrats pursuing favored bills such as paid family leave, a $15 minimum wage and a tax overhaul regardless of the governor's opposition.

"Our expectations of how the administration would work with the Legislature were very different last year," said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden. "What we then found was every time we moved in the governor’s direction, they would take all the pieces we put on the table, they would put it in a little pile, and then they’d say, 'Our goal line has moved further back.'"

Buy Photo

Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, speaks to reporters in Montpelier on Thursday, March 16, 2017.(Photo: APRIL MCCULLUM/FREE PRESS)

The governor said he also took lessons from last year: His veto threats, he said, were an attempt to communicate more clearly with lawmakers about his non-negotiable opposition to taxes and fees.

"I know that there was some criticism last year. They didn't think, I don't believe, that I was clear enough," Scott said at a March news conference. "So I've learned from that experience."

The next test of the relationship will come next week, when lawmakers return for a special session to reckon with his vetoes related to school property taxes.

Governor Phil Scott flexes his party's 53 votes in the House of Representatives

Democrats and Progressive lawmakers control both chambers of the Vermont Legislature, but they lack the two-thirds super-majority that would make them immune to a veto threat.

Republicans hold 53 seats in the House of Representatives, enough to sustain the governor's veto when necessary. This means that Scott's opposition has teeth.

After a trio of vetoes last year, Scott seemed more comfortable this year leveraging his power to reject legislation.

The veto threats came early and often. It wasn't just increases in income and property tax rates that drew Scott's disapproval, but also the type of fees that had become routine in Montpelier in prior years. He opposed a $2 annual surcharge to fund an online business portal. He opposed registration fees on new types of businesses that Vermont is just beginning to regulate, such as Airbnb rentals, Uber, and companies that collect and sell personal information.

He opposed a study that would have envisioned a fee to pay for required water quality projects sometime in the future. He opposed an increase in the minimum wage, a new tax to create a paid leave program, and a toxics regulation bill that he argued would make Vermont "less competitive for business."

Buy Photo

Sen. Bobby Starr, D-Essex/Orleans, second from left, listens with other senators as Gov. Phil Scott delivers his budget address to the Legislature at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.(Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS)

Scott vetoed one bill already this year and has issued at least 15 other veto threats, including a promise to reject the state budget because lawmakers declined to use one-time money to avoid an education property tax increase.

"What we have now is an administration that is using veto threats as their primary piece of engagement on the major piece of legislation," Ashe said, speaking to reporters last week.

In some cases, lawmakers have yielded to Scott's concerns by removing any mention of taxes or fees from policy bills. In the case of other bills, such as the state budget, the veto standoffs have intensified the scrutiny and pressure that already comes with an election year.

Democrats, GOP advance opposite definitions of "affordability"

Buy Photo

Republican representatives stand and applaud as Gov. Phil Scott delivers his budget address to the Legislature at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.(Photo: GLENN RUSSELL/FREE PRESS)

The 2018 session was a master class in how differently Republicans and Democrats think about cost-of-living issues.

For liberal lawmakers, "affordability" meant shifting education costs onto the income tax, raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2024, and passing a paid family leave insurance program, even though it would come out of employees' paychecks.

Gov. Scott, for whom "affordability" was a campaign mantra, used the term almost exclusively to mean cutting down taxes and fees. He argued that relief from tax increases would lead to natural economic growth and more businesses and residents sticking around.

Partys find common ground on non-tax issues

Not every issue in Montpelier was tinged with partisan rancor.

The year began with the passage of a bill that will legalize marijuana possession this summer. Gov. Scott, who vetoed a similar bill in 2017, reached a compromise with lawmakers that he could support, citing his "libertarian streak."

Later, led by a governor who radically changed his mind about gun policies, Vermont lawmakers found motivation to pass a suite of gun-related regulations and new felony penalties for the crimes of domestic terrorism and carrying a deadly weapon with the intent to kill multiple people.

And even the high-stakes issue of school spending saw some movement toward compromise as the Vermont-National Education Association agreed to pursue a statewide school employee health plan. Scott, who proposed a statewide health plan last year for the sake of saving money, cheered the move. The Senate Education Committee has drafted a version of the proposal which could resurface during the special session later this month.